MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - April 14, 2010) - Epistem plc (LSE: EHP), the UK biotechnology and contract research company, will present details of their new plucked hair immunohistochemistry platform at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Washington DC on Tuesday 20th April. Epistem have developed immunohistochemical labelling and imaging techniques for individual plucked human scalp hairs to monitor direct cellular response to drug treatment. The data to be presented at the conference confirms that this is a valuable technique for inclusion in clinical biomarker programmes.

The data will be presented by Dr. Ben Jackson in poster 6, section 34 that will be on display during the morning of 20th April 2010. The results presented will demonstrate the utility of immunohistochemical labelling for both whole mount and sectioned hair, with satisfactory levels of both inter and intra-donor variability and retention of antigenicity after tissue storage. Quantification and imaging methods will also be discussed, which have been developed and optimized to provide objective means of data analysis. The Company has previously demonstrated that hair plucking is a relatively simple, minimally invasive method of tissue collection, with few ethical issues. Hair acts as a surrogate biomarker tissue for monitoring the specific response of epithelial tissue to oncology agents. We have previously validated an mRNA expression analysis platform for this application. The new immunohistochemistry labelling and imaging techniques that will be presented complement this existing platform, permitting direct protein expression changes to also be monitored, providing additional pharmacodynamic data on existing and new oncology agents.

Epistem is a biotechnology company commercialising its expertise in epithelial stem cells in the areas of oncology, gastrointestinal diseases and dermatological applications. Epistem develops innovative therapeutics and biomarkers and provides contract research services to drug development companies. The Group's expertise is focused on the regulation of adult stem cells located in epithelial tissue, which includes the gastrointestinal tract, skin, hair follicles, breast and prostate. Epistem does not conduct research in the areas of embryonic stem cells or stem cell transplantation.

Epistem operates three distinct business divisions, Contract Research Services, Novel Therapies and Biomarkers. The Contract Research Services division provides specialised preclinical efficacy testing primarily for drug development companies on a 'fee for service' basis. This division has a track record of providing testing services to over 130 international company clients in Europe, the United States and Japan. The Company was originally formed in 2000 and this year celebrates its 10 year anniversary.